I want to help others

Welcome
Pastor Grant Bowdish:
Well, good morning everyone. If we haven’t met yet, my name is Grant Bowdish, I’m the Connections Director here at St. Mark, and as we get to continue our check all that apply series, as Xylinn said earlier, we’re going through these things of figuring out how the things you want for yourself, the things you want in life can be found in a St. Mark’s small group. And today we get to move on to our third topic of if you’re looking to help someone or you’re looking to serve and ultimately get to delve a little bit into what service has to do with small groups.

CUSTOMER SERVICE
And I bet that all of us have been served before. I think each and every one of us, maybe our first thought is customer service. If we were to pass the mic around everyone, each and every one of us probably has a great story of good customer service or great customer service.
When we were out and we were served, for example, a couple of weeks ago, friends and Moran and I went out to St. Joe to the beach Afterwards, we ended up out for dinner and the food all came and Riley had chicken tenders and Miranda had a burger. And of course because the burger had a bun, Riley needed bread and so he wants bread, he’s asking for it, a server’s coming by. It wasn’t our table server. We just asked, Hey, can he get a piece of bread? And less than a minute later there’s a piece of bread out on a plate. No fuss, nothing big wasn’t added to the bill. Just great service. And if I handed the mic back around, I think each and every one of us probably has a time of bad customer service We could share. We know that service is important and we understand the value of service, but today we get to go beyond just customer service and what it is to serve others and how our small groups help to make that happen.
Now, I think a couple of you might already have a question going on of I really need to add more people to my plate. I need to serve more. I already got enough people. I have my friends and my family and my neighbors. I’m serving my coworkers. I’m listening to my boss. I’m doing all the things that my kids need. I got a lot on my plate. Or you might be asking, how is this going to help me? You said the series was about how I can find the things I want in life. I’m not looking for more. I’m not looking to add things to my plate. I’m not looking to add people. I have enough.
The thing that we need to think about a little bit as we get ready though is that we’re viewed as Christians as we’re supposed to be good people. One of the major indictments we hear as Christians, you’ve probably heard it is aren’t you supposed to be good? Aren’t you supposed to go and serve everyone? You’re not doing anything for me or you’re not doing anything for the community. It’s this. They look downward on us. You can ask a server, when is the worst time for tips in a week? In too many places? It’s right after church on Sunday. And so we have this outside view of us and be fair, many of us are doing great things.

INSIDE vs OUTSIDE
We are good people, we’re serving others and we’re going out and we’re doing things for others. But a lot of the time we can get caught serving those right around us, serving those people in our safe little bubble there that are right there and we miss the people that are on the outside.
So, as we get ready to kind of focus on that earlier today we heard the words of Jesus and Matthew from Ashley a few minutes ago. And one of the people that would’ve heard Jesus’s words was Peter. And Peter was moved and led by these words so much to include them in a book that he wrote to a people that would’ve been in what’s Modern Day, Turkey, Asia Minor. And these people were suffering and persecuted and they had kind of lost some hope. So he writes to them reminding of them of their identity in Christ, giving them hope again, giving them a view of how to lead a Christ-like life. And while he does so, he illustrates a concept about service.

7 The end of all things is near. Therefore, be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
1 Peter 4: 7-11

As we read in one Peter, “The end of all things is near. Therefore, be alert and of sober minds so that you may pray above all. Love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms, if anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ to him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.”
So, as we take time to break that down right away in the first verse, we see the reason that we started the series talking about prayer and we start our months with prayer nights and we do prayer walks in the summer because everything begins being rooted in prayer. Right in verse four, “The end of all things is near. Therefore, be alert and of sober minds so that you may pray.” It matters that we are mentally prepared to pray before we serve, before we meet, before we eat. All things need to be rooted in prayer. And in verse eight, “Above all, love each other deeply because love covers a multitude of sins.” Many times we find it easier to forgive those that are maybe our friends and our family. Not always, but many times, and this is because we have felt love by them and we have shown love to them, and this love can cover this multitude of sins. But if we think back to our indictment of Christians that were not doing enough, the outside group has not all gotten an to feel love from the church. We have to use our opportunities to show love because if you’re not showing love to someone, they’re less likely to be able to show you grace. We’re not receiving grace from them because they haven’t felt loved.
“Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling” is our next challenge here. When we go out and we’re vacuuming as we get ready for someone to come over, we’re not mad about it as we running to the store because extra people got added to the dinner list and we’re going to run out of food. We’re not upset about it. We can even be excited to clean the kitchen and mow the lawn and all the things it takes for people to come over to our houses. And we all know that hospitality matters. If you’ve ever went to someone’s home for the first time, you know that hospitality matters. But even here at church, we have a hospitality team greeting us at the door and handing out the bulletins. We have people making our coffee in the morning and making sure the spaces are clean, making sure we have toilet paper.
It’s an important thing. We know that hospitality matters and if there was someone at the back door that was all grumbly and mumbly as we got here, we would not feel welcomed as we got here. The same goes for our houses and when we’re out and in verse 10, it then continues on that not only are we not grumbly, but “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” Each of us has been gifted to go out and serve. He has prepared us to go in a different way maybe than the person next to us, but he has given us a gift. So not only have we received that, but we read we’re being a faithful steward when we serve, our stewardship goes beyond just finances here but to our time and the talents that the Lord has blessed us with, that we take them out and we serve.
And that brings us to our words. “If anyone speaks, they should do so as one that speaks the very words of God.” I have always taken this seriously that when I’m out and I’m talking to someone, my words have to represent Christ. I am speaking the very words of God and that matters. It matters when we go out and serve that we’re speaking words of Christ and it matters in our homes that we’re speaking words of Christ, but “If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength that God provides. So, in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.” This is what we hear at the end of verse 11, reminding us first off that we are not alone and that we’re not doing this for ourselves. We are going out and serving because God has given us strength to do so. He gives us the strength to use the gifts he’s given that we may serve others and that all things we do are so that God may be praised. So if you’re dusting and you’re mopping, you do it to give God glory. If you’re serving food in a soup kitchen or your own kitchen, you’re doing it to give God glory.
If you’re in a few months packing a shoebox for operation Christmas child, we’re doing it to give God glory and somebody here has been gifted perfectly to pack that shoebox and send it off and serve others. But if that’s not you, that’s okay because we’ve all been prepared differently and we can look back at Matthew as we look at the ways that he has promised we will be able to serve.

`42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Matthew 25: 42-46

So, In Matthew 25, he shows us exactly what we can be doing. “For I was hungry.” We can feed the hungry, we can give drink to the thirsty, invite the stranger in close those that need clothes to look after the sick and visit those in prison. It’s this direct list that we can go out and it says in scripture again that we’re going to look back at the end of our lives on how we served and we’re going to see Jesus.
And our words may be as it goes on for we may say, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or clothe you? When did we see you sick or imprison and go and visit you? But it says to those that have been Christ and those that have righteousness in them, and the king will reply. “Truly, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” So as we go out and we’re serving, we’re going to see Jesus. We’re going to experience Jesus in those that we serve.

WE WILL SEE JESUS, BUT SO WILL THEY
And Peter reminds us that our identity in Christ means that not only will we see Jesus in those we serve, but when we’re serving, we are helping others to experience Jesus. Jesus is on both ends of our service and people are going to experience Jesus through you as you serve. And it’s one of my favorite things about our small groups at St. Mark because they get to take us beyond just meeting on a Sunday to where each and every one of us can truly take ownership over the church.

SMALLGROUPS = YOU ARE THE CHURCH
And you may have heard our mission before, we lay down our lives so as many as possible experience Jesus in our small groups, we get to take ownership of this. We get to serve together that others would experience Jesus because many of you already know that the church is not just this building though it is a great thing to have and we’re blessed to grow it, but it’s about you and you can do more even than just the staff could do.

ABOUT ME
My new role here is doing small groups, which I love, but it’s doing care and counseling and I would love for you guys to call me if you are sick, call me when there’s an injury or you’re in the hospital. I’ve already done visits and rehab centers and things and I have loved to do it. I want to be able to do that for you. I want you to bring your prayers to me. I’ve already met with people that they have questions about scripture or the faith and I have been able to do that for them and it’s great, but I cannot have an individual connection with each and every one of you and talk to you every week or every other week. And your small groups can do that too. Your small group can meet your needs as well. They can pray for you.
As we heard a couple weeks ago, you’re going to make new connections and new friends just as Chris talked about last week and we’ve even seen on Facebook posts of small groups did great things for me, but they will also help you serve and while you serve with them, you’re going to find yourself being served in ways you don’t yet know. For some of us though, this is going to be really easy. For example, I love serving. I love to help and for example, I love going over to friends’ houses and helping them keep their Tupperware clean and their fridge emptied by eating the extra food they’ve prepared. But it’s more than just that too. The quickest way for me to clean out my van is you tell me you’re moving. I want to be there.
I’ve gotten calls of, Hey, I need my mattress flipped or my toilet needs receded, and I’m right there with my toolbox. I’m ready to go. Got to call of, Hey, do you want to help me renovate my bathroom? And somehow I ended up replumbing the bathroom at the same time. But I loved being there. I loved being able to go and serve my friends in that way. There’s something about service that energizes me. I feel good afterwards. Yes, but I’m in my happy place when I’m out and serving whether I was planning to do it or not, and not to overlook the opposite. I have been served by my friends many times as well. I have had times where my dryer breaks and I’m doing laundry at a friend’s house, getting ready to go somewhere or times that the power’s out and my food ends up in a friend’s freezer or when I moved out here, a group from St.
Mark’s showed up at my house and they unloaded the truck and a lot of the same ones showed back up seven months later when we were moving from our rental into our house that we’re in now, they were picking up the boxes, putting them down in the truck, driving to the next place, picking them up, putting them down. And that simple act served me and Miranda greatly, although I was told that two times in one year meant that a few of them it was capped out for. I was done moving there have many, many times people at my house cleaning out the backyard with me for a birthday party or spending hours putting together a play set.

THE BUBBLE
My friends and I have been able to serve each other, but all of that is within my bubble is maybe just what’s expected of a friend, this reciprocal exchange of help.
Well, I’ll go help them because they helped me or I’m going to help those that are safe in my bubble so that when I need help, it will be given back to me. There’s just going to be this exchange where we’re safe, we’re there. I’m going to be repaid later by the help that I give, but there are more people in this world and in this community that need help than our bubble can contain. And that’s why it’s so important to us for today to think about the fact that small groups can help you serve beyond your bubble.

SMALL GROUPS WILL HELP YOU SERVE BEYOND YOR BUBBLE
Small groups will help you serve beyond your bubble. We think back to the list we got today in scripture, the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, those in prison, those that need clothes, the stranger. You might have some of those in your bubble, but there’s going to be people on that list that are outside of our group and God has gifted us to go and serve those people and given us the strength to do so.
As we look back at our series, our check, all that apply now that we’ve kind of talked about service and what it means, let’s take a moment to think about what it is that you are looking for yourself. Is it prayer? Is it new friends or closeness, more connections? We’ve talked the last couple weeks about that and how you’re going to find that in small groups. Is it fulfillment? Is it you want to go help someone? Is it you want to be helped yourself? All of this and more is going to be found when we serve alongside each other in small groups. And the small group is an easy first step towards some of this as well. You are going to be sitting in a home and you’re going to be eating and drinking together and the hungry will be fad and the thirsty will be given drink.
You’re going to be meeting new people and the stranger will be a stranger no more. You might even have the opportunity if someone spills a pop or a coffee on their shirt that you’re going to give clothes to the person that needs them. It’s these simple first steps within our group that start us in the mindset to go and serve. When someone’s sick, you’ll get the opportunity to deliver soup to their front door. So it’s that first step and the other thing they’re going to do. Small groups help us make serving a priority. Each one of us has got a lot going on in life. We’re all busy, we have important things to do, but small groups are going to make a time in your life that your calendar is marked off to go and serve others with your group and it’s going to be a priority for you to go and serve.

LET’S IMAGINE
So, I want to take a moment today to imagine what it looks like if each of us was serving in small groups. First off, our city will be prospered at the end of every year in small groups. We get to do prosper. The city here at St. Mark where in your small group you are going to get to talk and you’re going to use your gifts and your abilities and the way you have been gifted to go and serve Battle Creek in the way that you are equipped. You’re going to make this city a better place and you are going to come up with better ideas than the staff could have came up with on their own because it’s you that is taking all of this and making it your own.
In the fall this year as a small group we’re going to get to participate in than giveaway. We’re going to give away 150 frozen turkeys to those in the community that are in need right away As small groups, we’re going to get to go and feed the hungry in Battle Creek and each of the projects that you took last year. I cannot go around and figure out every need in Battle Creek, but there were projects where you were building decks for your neighbors or serving those right around you in a way that you can see in a way that you have been prepared. And this is how you get to become Mark by going out and serving in the community. In your group.
You’re going to find your prayers are not just going to be prayed by you, but for you and with you and you’re going to be walking together when you have a need. And all of this helps point us back to Christ. Christ’s words were echoing in my mind as I got ready for this of I came to serve, not to be served. Christ says I came not to serve or not to be served, but to serve. To serve others. We get to identify with Christ and go serve because Christ first served us, he went so far as to die on a cross that we may have the freedom to go and serve others and as he did and as we go serve Christ, it will be known by our service. He will be seen in us. And as you go serve, St. Mark will be seen.
Maybe you’re going to go out and you’re going to be giving back and you’re going to be looked at as generous and St. Mark gets to be a church known for exceptional generosity. Maybe your group is going to invite others here as you serve or invite them to an event or even maybe your house. And we get to be a church with an inviting culture as you go out and serve, you’re going to be growing closer to those that are on the other side of the aisle. And we’re going to be a church that grows smaller as we go larger because we’re working together, we’re praying for each other and serving and speaking of prayer, because we have to start all these projects in prayer. We get to be a church growing in prayer and not all of Battle Creek looks just like us. There are people with different financial statuses and racial backgrounds that we get to go serve and we get to pray for and invite in that we would be a church as diverse as the city we serve.
This happens when we go do things to give God glory in our community. And for those of you with kids or teens in your groups, you get to take your kids out and they get to serve with you. But if that’s not you, you get to be a model to those teens and to the youth that we be a church. The next generation calls their own. So in your service, you’re going to be Christ and you’re going to show Christ to others by taking part in our visions here because like I said earlier, small groups help you serve beyond your bubble. But more than that, when small groups are helping us serve beyond our bubble, small groups help St. Mark grow beyond its bubble. We have one here even if we don’t see it. And we’re inviting you to serve in small groups with us so that we may grow and we may serve the community together as Christ church as well.
We get to go out and be seen in the world in a new way through your service as we lay down our lives so that more people may experience Jesus through our actions. And as we look forward, that’s how St. Mark grows its bubble and how it is there for us. And if you aren’t sure yet, based off all this, do I want this for myself? Is this what I want to take a part of at the end of our lives, we heard earlier we’re going to look back and Christ is going to be speaking with us. We’re going to hear words after we do these things because maybe you’re going to go and you’re going to serve in a soup kitchen with your group. Maybe you’ll even keep doing it afterwards. And to that Christ is going to say, I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.
Or your group may go out and collect clothes and shoes and socks and you’re going to take them and deliver them to the haven or the Alternatives Battle Creek or any of the groups we have here. And you’re going to hear Christ say, I needed clothes and you clothed me. Your group may come visit someone with me. Or you may go to a home or a hospital and visit others and you’re going to hear Christ say at the end of your life, I was sick and you looked after me. You’re going to meet new people in this and you’re going to get serve someone you don’t know. Maybe invite them to church and hear Christ say I was a stranger and you invited me in. Maybe you’ll just be driving down the road and you’ll give a bottle of water to someone on the side of the road that says, thanks so much.
I was so thirsty, and you’re going to hear Christ say, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. Christ’s words are going to echo with us at the end of this life, and our service does not always have to be a grand gesture. And eventually serving in your small group is going to make it easier to each and every day just walk in service because it’s going to become a part of who you are. And by making it a priority, you are going to help new people experience Jesus for the first time because you served beyond your bubble.
When we served together new people experience Jesus. And after all this takes place and we reach the end of our lives. All of this leads me up to a hope that I have for each and every one of us that we get to the throne, as it said, Christ will be on and we get to hear the words together. Well done, good and faithful servant. Let’s pray.

PRAYER
Lord, I thank you for the path to service and the way to live like you that you have given us in your scripture. We come before you today asking for forgiveness, for the times that we have not served for those opportunities we did not use. We bring before you even the times that we served, but we grumbled while we did it and we were angry at doing it. Lord, we placed that before you and say, we’re sorry for these times we have let pass.
Lord, I thank you for preparing each and every one of us with a gift to serve. Let us be good stewards of your grace. Give us places to serve and the strength to go and do so just as you have promised. Lord, may our words be yours. May our actions be one with you, and may we give you glory in all that do so that others may experience Jesus as we serve. We thank you Lord for all that you do, and as we begin to make your words our own, we speak together the prayer that you have taught us, saying Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. I invite you to stand.